Aafreen Bhanji

ELA 30-2 

November 28, 2019

Dear Prosper School Board,

My name is Alex Wells, and I am a Grade 12 student currently attending Prosper High School. I am writing to you today to persuade you to accept the proposal for a four-day school week at prosper High School. Having a shorter school week means that parents, students, and staff will benefit. Even though some do not agree, the majority believe that having a four-day week will help everyone in some way.

Having a four-day school week could open up many volunteering opportunities. Since the school would be empty on Fridays, the space could be used for other clubs and activities. In the Prosper Community News there is an article that talks about how community groups see the benefit of having a four-day school week. It states “We will be able to schedule more Friday activities and attract more volunteers.” This shows that by the school not having classes on Friday, students will be able to volunteer at local groups and participate in more activities. If students are able to volunteer more, they will gain more experience in helping others and contributing to society.

Although having a four-day school week is good, some argue that it will ruin the sleeping cycle of students. According to the Academic Journal, having a day off every week will affect the sleeping schedule of students which will result in them performing badly in school. The source says, “Attempting to catch up on weekends and days off actually disrupts sleep cycles even more because the body is not allowed to maintain a consistent sleep cycle.” This shows that having short week will change the students performance in school and change the way they act. Parents do not agree with having a four day school week. According to FastPoll.com, 64% of parents voted no to having a short school week. Kristina Oudet, a parent, commented, “I want my kid in school Mon to Fri when I’m at work, not in front of the TV all day. The thought of unsupervised Fridays off gives me nightmares!” This shows that parents are concerned for their children’s habits when they have a day off and how they would rather have them be at school.

Having a short school week would benefit the teachers very much. According to FastPoll.com, 82% of teachers voted yes to having a four-day school week which shows that teachers would enjoy having a long weekend every week. Paul Meyer, a teacher at Prosper High School, commented, “Long weekend every weekend! More time to spend with friends and an extra shift at work.” This supports the idea that teachers also need a break from school and having and extra day off can help them recover from the week and plan lessons more effectively. This is shown in the presentation to the school board made by Monica Pham which shows the educational advantages of the four-day school week. For example, “ Four-day weeks create more time for teacher planning and preparation” and “One weekday off enables scheduling of appointments for staff and students that do not interfere with the school day.” This shows that by having a shorter week, teachers and students can balance their personal lives with their school lives by having an extra day off. 

I believe that the Prosper School Board should accept the proposal for having a four-day school week. Having a four-day school week will help students in volunteering more, and it will allow teachers and students to maintain their educational and personal lives. Although it may affect the sleeping cycles of students, it will help them to recover when they need to and make them more experienced in volunteering and allow teachers to be more prepared in their lessons. Thank you for taking the time to read my letter and I hope that my words were enough to convince you to accept the proposal. If you want to ask any further questions about my reasoning and opinion about the proposal, you can email me at alex.wells@gmail.com or you can call me at 403-123-4567.

Sincerely,

Alex Wells